Another way of exchanging $ question

When you hear the word "Travelex", run as fast as you can the other way. Do you not have a bank/credit union ATM card? That is the way to go, especially if you have a bank/credit union card that charges no more than 1 % foreign currency transaction fee and no "out of network" fees.

Travelex is on the Heathrow website because they pay Heathrow a big percentage of the obscene fees they charge their unwitting customers.

I would never use Travelex to purchase any significant amount of foreign currency, but for small, starter amounts of less than US$150 they can be pretty handy, and the fees for such a small amount don't add up to much in the great scheme of things if you're one who just wants to have some Euros, Pounds, etc. in your pocket upon arrival.

The standard advice is for travelers from the US to use their US debit card to get cash from UK ATM's, and their US credit cards for purchases when/if they don't want to or can't use cash.

This advice is standard for a reason. You can't get a better rate or easier transaction another way.

And yes, anything Travelex is going to charge more than your banks and credit cards will.

For more money tips, read all of Rick's links on this page, and you'll be an expert: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money

Prepaid cards are certainly an option, there are better ones, but before you go that way, or any way, understand your costs.

The downfall of many prepaid cards is that you pay to get it and load it, pay to use it, maybe pay conversion fees, and if you are left with a balance at the end, pay to get your money back.

I can see that maybe it appeals to Students on a class trip or people without access to standard bank accounts, but for most their are cheaper options.

Definitely avoid Travelex.

Use a debit card to get cash from an ATM, preferably one affiliated with a major local bank. Use a credit card for larger purchases. Many smaller merchants either do not take credit cards or will impose a minimum purchase for credit cards, hence the need to have some cash. Don't be one of those awful American tourists who go around asking "Do you take dollars?"

Using your debit and credit cards will get you the best exchange rates possible. Check with you credit card issuing bank to find out if they impose a foreign transaction fee. If so, you might want to shop for a credit card that does not charge a fee for foreign currency transactions. (Capital One is one, I'm sure there are others, too).

A prepaid care is not going to be you most cost-effective way to go, whether from Travelex or anyone else.

Tim

I'm sure there must be US equivalents but I haven't undertaken any research to establish if this is the case but prior to my trip to the US this year I opened an account with Starling bank in the UK. I did so because my current bank charges high fees to use my debit card abroad and Starling claimed that it does not charge fees.It provides you with a Mastercard debit card and I used it faultlessly wherever I went in the US (the exception was Saks). I simply transferred money over to the account and they have an excellent app where you can manage your expenditure and it even sends you a text whenever you use it with the conversion into your preferred currency.

There are no fees to use this account and with zero foreign transaction fees it makes for a perfect alternative.

Thanks for the info. Looks like prepaid card in pounds have a bunch of drawbacks. Have a credit card with no transaction fee which is great so one down on buying stuff. Checked the conversion rate & pretty good based on spot rates.
Thinking of needing some cash to start, smaller amount. Travelex uk site shows charging $1.27 /pound today with no pickup fee if 300 pounds are ordered. Would pick up at Heathrow so no delivery fee. Havent what debit card conversion rate yet. Dont have one yet. How does this sound?

I don't think your information source is reliable. The official (interbank) rate is about $1.30/GBP at the moment, so I don't think anyone is going to sell you pounds at $1.27 each. Perhaps you are looking at the rate going in the other direction--what they would give you if you were converting pounds to dollars.

Do you mean that you do not have an ATM card you use at home?

Havent what debit card conversion rate yet. Dont have one yet.

Exchange rates for debit (and credit) cards change by the hour. You can look up the current "credit card" rate which visa and Mastercard use. You will not get better than this unless you are trading directly on the Foreign Exchange Market.

Please note that unless something has changed in the last couple of years, it IS okay to use your ATM card to withdraw money from your account at a Travlex ATM in Heathrow. This was tested, and I recieved the same rate as from a regular bank owned ATM later in the day, no fee charged. And it didn’t even attempt DCC.

I wouldn't do any of that, chicagot3.

Use your credit card to take the Tube or Heathrow Connect rail (soon to be Crossrail) and then use a bank cash machine in London. This is what we ALWAYS do when we don't have pounds with us.

There are times I have forgotten to take British cash with me so I end up arriving with no £ whatsoever. I refuse to be overcharged at Travelex so I follow the advice I gave you and get the cash in London.

The exchange rate on Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards changes daily. You can find the current rate out by going to Google and typing in "1 GBP in USD". Right now as I am typing this it is 1.30 which is what you will pay when using your debit or credit card, disregarding the fees your bank might add. I can't get the UK Travelex site to sell pounds for dollars, so I can't get a rate there.

Actually, the exchange changes by the second and is quoted to 4 decimal places. I am watching now, and it has varied from 1.3015 and 1.3018 in the last minute. Today's range has been 1.292 to 1.304 since midnight London time. When you take money from an ATM, it will be at the exchange rate at that instant in time, plus about 1 %.

Yes, the instantaneous rate changes quickly and often throughout the day. Helpful for the actual exchange of large dollar spot contracts.

However, Visa and MasterCard (and American Express and Discover) all set their rate for the settlement for that day at the start of their business day. It does not change during the day. It is based on the expected swing in the rate for that currency for that day and includes a bit of padding that does not show in the transactions at the amounts a normal person performs and is nearly static with the official rate you find at Oanda and similar places to at least 2 decimals. Any variance you see is because not everyone settles their ATMs or merchant terminals everyday so the transition you do today could settle as such as 10 days later at the rate for that day.

In my experience the rate charged on my Chase Visa credit card can vary intraday. Looking back at my statement, I see days where multiple purchases were posted, the date of the conversion and the actual FX rate used to 9 decimal places. Generally very small differences at the 4th decimal and out. This is for both £ and €.

I would not exchange money or use Travelex. I opened up a Capital One 360 bank account online (for free and no upper or lower limits on what needs to stay in it) and used that at the ATMs and also to purchase items. I was leery about it at first, hoping it would work once over there. Went to England, France and Netherlands last month and had no problems using it either way anywhere; it was easy. Only thing I was disappointed in was how long it took to transfer money from my regular bank account to it for use. Cap One has no foreign transaction fees, no fees at all. Always choose local currency to convert to if asked. I was very happy to have it as my bank has a few fees, not much, but still more of my hard earned money leaving to go to them. After reading this forum for almost a year about fees and money tips, I was happy with how things went money-wise on our trip.